Privacy campaigners criticise WhatsApp vulnerability as a ‘huge threat to freedom of speech’ and warn it could be exploited by government agencies Source: WhatsApp backdoor allows snooping on encrypted messages | Technology | The Guardian Two quotes, in particular, that stand out: Boelter reported the backdoor vulnerability to Facebook in April 2016, but was told…

Five EU countries said they want the European Commission to propose legislation that would make it easier for police to crack through encryption technology. Source: Five member states want EU-wide laws on encryption

“The Opinion has created a regime where electronic communication service providers—private, for-profit businesses answerable only to their shareholders—can thwart legitimate and important criminal and national security investigations, while providing no offsetting, principled privacy protections,” the government argued. Source: US renews fight to seize content from Microsoft’s servers in Ireland | Ars Technica UK

The Obama administration is working on a series of agreements with foreign governments that would allow them for the first time to serve U.S. technology companies with warrants for email searches and wiretaps—a move that is already stirring debates over privacy, security, crime and terrorism. Source: U.S. to Allow Foreigners to Serve Warrants on U.S.…